ON A SCALES FROM ONE TO TEN

I had the chance to speak to former PawSox player Bobby Scales on Friday. Bobby, was in San Diego with the Chicago Cubs, getting ready for a Memorial Day weekend series. Scales, 31, played for the PawSox in 2007, establishing himself as one of the nicest men to wear the Pawtucket colors. Unfortunately, Scales did not get a call up to Boston in September. Although he was no doubt disappointed, Scales was probably used to it. His promotion on May 5, 2009 was the first of his 11 year career. Scales immediately made up for lost time, getting his first big league hit against reigning Cy Young winner, Tim Lincecum. The switch-hitting “jack of all trades” strung together a six game hitting streak, validating Lou Piniella’s confidence in him. “It’s a blessing, everything happens for a reason.” Scales added “I’m sorry I didn’t get the chance with Boston, but playing at Pawtucket was a great experience. Make sure you say hello to everyone there.” One of my best Bobby Scales memories was our trip to his alma mater, the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Scales, who attended Michigan with Tom Brady was a proud man as he toured us around the campus. His wife, Monica, also a former Wolverine has been in attendance as Bobby made his M.L. debut. Sometimes good things happen to great people.

**********

One of the pleasures of the job is becoming friendly with the roving instructors that come through Pawtucket. These men work for the Red Sox and keep tabs on the prospects in the farm system. Rob Leary is the field coordinator, he oversees the entire minor league system. This is a daunting task, especially when you consider the caliber of prospects throughout the chain. The other day “Lear” recounted his skydiving excursion he took during spring training. “I didn’t tell my wife until I was done.” It was a tandem jump, meaning he was strapped to the instructor as he made the leap. Leary said that the descent took about 6 minutes “1 minute of free-fall and 5 minutes of floating”. It brought to mind a prank Manager Ron Johnson played on John Baker of the Pawtucket Times a few seasons ago. After a day off, we gathered in RJ’s office for his daily press briefing. He winked at me and casually mentioned. “Had a great day off yesterday- Hydes and I went nude skydiving.” All the guys chuckled except Baker. He began writing furiously in his notebook. After a few minutes of stringing him along, RJ let Baker in on the joke. The mental image of us skydiving “au naturel” is disturbing, to say the least.

**********

Mark Kotsay is in Pawtucket for his M.L. rehab. While recovering from back surgery Kotsay tweaked a calf muscle. Kotsay is expected to join the PawSox on their road trip to Louisville and Indianapolis. According to RJ, he’ll play outfield Friday and Saturday getting 3 at bats each night. He’ll have Sunday off and tentatively is set to play first base on Monday and Tuesday.

**********

Hunter Jones is back with the PawSox after making 8 appearances with Boston in his Major League debut. Jones admitted “keeping a vigil” as Daisuke Matsuzaka made his way back to the Red Sox rotation. “If I had been pitching better, I would have felt worse.” Jones admitted. “I needed to get back to Pawtucket and work on some things.”